


If Only In My Dreams

by splash_the_cat



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 10:31:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5536556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/splash_the_cat/pseuds/splash_the_cat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas eve will find them... stuck in an airport.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Only In My Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Season's greetings, SG-1 fandom! Sort of a sequel to "[Breakdown](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5038420)".

"You have got to be kidding me." Jack glared at the departures board, as if he could wipe away the sea of red CANCELLEDs with the sheer power of his outrage. 

Behind him, Carter laughed. Probably because she'd said, "Flying out on Christmas Eve is asking for trouble, Jack. Let's just drive," and he'd said, "My ass is too old to sit in a car for nineteen hours when it can fly first class."

"Don't say it," he shook an accusing finger over his shoulder, eyes still fixed on the board, squinting hard at their flight, which glared baleful red back at him. Carter caught his finger and tugged, pulling him around to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. 

"Daniel just texted. He and Teal'c made it fine." 

That was supposed to be a surprise for Carter, him finagling schedules to get Daniel and Teal'c both on-world and up to the cabin to spend Christmas, but Daniel had blown it the week before when he'd emailed Carter asking her to bring some card game with her.

Thinking about it irritated him all over again. He'd had plans, very good plans for Carter's first Christmas back on Earth, and the universe was conspiring to ruin it. It'd been like five years since she'd spent the holiday with any of them, between her stint on Atlantis and commanding the Hammond, and he wanted it to be special, god damn it. 

"Tell them not to touch the beer," he said, following Carter as she wove through the crowd of fellow stranded travelers. She ducked away, almost losing Jack in a gaggle of teenagers wearing matching school marching band hoodies, but he made it through the gauntlet of hormones and furious texting to find Carter staking out a bench in a somewhat secluded corner.

"Here." She patted the spot next to her and pulled out her phone, tapping at it.

Jack let his bag thud to the floor and slumped down, scrunching his shoulders in. It wasn't a very large bench. "Technically, this is all your fault."

Carter slid her eyes from the phone to him. "Oh really?" 

Jack opened his mouth and immediately snapped it shut, because the only way she would have been able to avoid this was delaying her swearing in as the new commander of Earthforce Fleet until after the new year. Which would have meant her spending another Christmas on the _Hammond_ , somewhere light years away. 

Instead he worked his fingers through her hair to cup the back of her head, pulling her in against his shoulder, trying, and failing to curb his resentment at the scheduling vagaries of Homeworld security, Daniel, the weather, and the guy a few feet away blasting Christmas music on his phone for ruining everything. It wasn't just Carter's first Christmas home in years, it was their first Christmas together, actually together, not just orbiting around each other with more baggage than Santa's sleigh.

"You're in charge of a whole fleet of beam-capable spaceships now," he groused, pinning Phone Guy with a blank stare. Phone Guy was unimpressed. "Why can't you make one do something useful like drop us in Minnesota?"

Carter's amused snort muddied into a worn sigh. "You want me to call in and tell Captain Garrity to turn the Hammond around and come get us." She curled a hand around his wrist, thumb stroking over the pulse point, steady and soothing. 

"It was your ship," he retorted, mouth in full command of his disgruntlement, even as his brain reminded him how ridiculous he sounded.

Carter's phone chimed, saving him from digging any further holes. "Here," she said, turning it to face him. "Try to be a little merry." 

Teal'c's face filled the screen, Daniel's nose and chin visible over one shoulder. _"Felicitations, O'Neill."_

"Yeah, you too." An elbow jabbed his ribs and he forced a smile. 

_"Don't hurt yourself, Jack."_ Daniel said, safely behind Teal'c and 900 miles away; Jack flipped him a festive bird. 

"Jack," Carter said, drawing it out like a warning siren. "I've got some calls in," Carter said to Daniel and Teal'c, rolling her eyes at Jack's surprised look. "It's like they just hired me to command a fleet of spaceships or something," she said under her breath to Jack before adding, to Daniel, "If we can't get a flight out commercial,we may be able to get out via Andrews tomorrow morning if the weather clears as predicted."

_"I'll keep my fingers crossed. We miss you guys,"_ Daniel said, pulling his glasses off, only to put them right back on. _"We'll keep the fire warm and the food ready. And we won't drink the beer."_

Jack itched to reach through the screen and shove Daniel's glasses up all the way. "Fine. You can have a beer.

_"Your generosity does credit to the spirit of this season, O'Neill."_

"Don't get carried away, buddy," Jack said, earning an eyebrow and one of the small, warming smiles Teal'c now bestowed with astonishing regularity. 

Carter signed off in a flurry of goodbyes and Merry Christmases, and shoved her phone in her pocket before curling into Jack with a groan, the lean line of her body caught between tension and exhaustion. "I'm sorry," she said. "I probably could have pushed harder to get the transfer sorted earlier."

The knot of rancor lodged in Jack's chest drained away, punctured by the utterly unnecessary apology. Contrition immediately replaced it. Fifteen years of dealing with unforeseen complications every time he turned a corner, and he still somehow expected everything close to home should just somehow work out, despite ample evidence to the contrary. And here he was, the only thing actually ruining the day (though Phone Guy, now singing along with some awful remix of "White Christmas," wasn't off the hook).

"But it could be worse right?" Carter said. "One of us could be in another galaxy, or in quarantine." She started to tick off on her fingers: "Stranded on another planet, captured by any number of megalomaniac aliens..." 

"Stop being so reasonable, will you?" He murmured into her hair by way of apology, winding the long strands he still wasn't used to around his fingers.

"One of us has to be." But her words were soft, amused, and she pressed a kiss under his ear, apology accepted. "I wish we were there too, Jack."

"Come here." He hooked a hand under her knee, dragging her legs up over his lap. It was awkward, given the tiny bench and Carter being all leg, but he managed to wiggle them both into a vaguely comfortable arrangement as he scratched gently along the curve of her skull, and Carter sighed happily, relaxing against him. "It's still your fault if they drink all my beer."

"I'll make it up to you," she said, fingers hooked into his belt loop, thumb tracing the skin along the line of his waistband.

"Nah, it's good." Jack tipped her chin up to kiss her soundly. "Got everything I need right now, right here."


End file.
